************ Sermon on Belgic Confession Article 17 ************
Doctrine: God's Plan of Salvation
By: Rev. Adrian Dieleman
This sermon was preached on October 11, 1998
B.C. 17
Genesis 3
"A Seeking and Saving God"
Introduction
Before us this evening in the Belgic Confession of Faith and in Scripture we have the central fact of the Gospel – that God is a seeking and saving God, that He sent His Son to the earth to seek and to save the Lost.
I Man's Misery and Sin
A The starting point of this article, as is the case with so many of the articles, is man's misery and sin. The Confession tells us that man has "plunged himself ... into ... physical and spiritual death." I am sure that many here have heard of the Lemming – a member of the rodent family:
The name "lemming" is a Norwegian word that means "destroying" and refers to the ravages that occur during a lemming migration. The migration occurs whenever the numbers of the lemming population are so great that all the vegetation in a region is consumed; the hordes of animals, faced with starvation, start their migration. In vast numbers they travel in almost any direction, but once on the way continue along a straight path. As the main group marches forward it is joined by other groups. There are no detours or changes of direction to bypass a lake or rough, fast-flowing river, or cliff, even though thousands may perish. (Colliers Encyclopedia CD-ROM )
When Adam fell into sin he plunged mankind over a cliff into a deep chasm from which there is – humanly speaking – no escape.
The Confession describes the results of the Fall here as physical and spiritual death. Because of sin all men must die physically. Physical death has been defined many different ways: as when the lungs stop breathing, or when the heart stops beating, or when brain waves cease. In the Bible, however, physical death occurs when the soul separates from the body. Though death is an enemy, the Christian knows that at physical death her or his soul goes to be with Christ.
When God created man He created him as a whole being with body and soul joined together. Therefore, at death man becomes an incomplete being. Before the resurrection of the body he exists as a soul without a body. A soul without a body is like a car without an engine, or a bank without money, or a dairyman without cows – you are incomplete.
Because of the Fall man also dies a spiritual death. Spiritual death means the separation of man from God. When a baby is inside the womb it receives life-giving nourishment and gets rid of death-causing waste through the umbilical cord. In the Fall man has cut the umbilical cord that attached him to God. In the Fall man has cut the life-line which attached him to the safety and security of the Father. As a result man is without bearings and is lost in the sea of life just like a ship without a compass is lost at sea. Man is now an alien or exile – he has been alienated and exiled from God's presence.
B The Confession also reminds us that man "made himself completely miserable." What is man's misery? Man's misery is that he is called upon by God's law to love God above all and to love his neighbor as he loves himself; instead, he has a natural tendency to hate both God and neighbor. Because of his sin every facet of man's being is corrupt and evil. The ground is cursed because of man. Childbirth and food are the result of pain and labor. Suffering and sorrow are now man's lot. All things are now subject to vanity.
C According to the Confession, man's sin made him flee from God with fear and trembling. This we see in the instinctive reaction of our first parents. In simple language the Bible recalls what happened after man ate the forbidden fruit:
(Gen 3:7-8) Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. (8) Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden.
Why did Adam and Eve flee from God? Because they knew they had sinned against the Lord. They rightly feared this God. Before the Fall Adam and Eve knew only love for God. Now they also knew fear for the holy God – fear of His anger and righteous judgment. No longer was man in a state of joy and peace.
Here is the human problem: man wants joy and peace but because he is apart from God he cannot experience it. Instead, he is filled with fear and trembling because he knows he must someday appear before God's judgment throne. Man cannot escape God, he cannot hide from God. Adam and Eve found that out. So did Jonah.
II God Seeks and Saves Fallen Man
A No truth is more precious, persuasive, and powerful than that which we find in Article 17 – that ours is a God of grace.
There are few words in all of Scripture that are as delightful to the believing heart as the word "grace." Repeatedly it is used in the Old and New Testaments. Unless we properly understand this word we cannot possibly understand Scripture's message of redemption and salvation.
What is grace? Grace is unmerited favor, undeserved kindness, unearned benefit from God to fallen man. There is nothing about us that makes us worthy to receive God's grace.
Everything in our relationship with God has to do with grace. There is no place here for man's works. There is no place here for human pride or effort. Instead of us coming to God, it is God Who comes to us – out of grace. Instead of us loving God, it is God Who loves us – out of grace. Instead of us being righteous, it is God Who declares us to be righteous – out of grace. Instead of us being obedient, it is God's son Who is obedient in our place – once again, out of grace.
This solves a problem which bothers so many. They wonder whether God is willing to receive them since their faith and obedience are so imperfect. They think they are beyond the reach of God's love. But these people are asking the wrong questions. They ask:
-Do I believe?
-Is my faith strong enough?
-Is my life good enough?
Instead, they should be asking:
-Is God willing to receive me because of Christ?
This puts the whole matter in the right perspective. We must look away from ourselves and to God. No one may doubt His grace or His love.
Topic: Salvation
Subtopic: The Gift of God
Index: 3123
Date: 4/1988.20
Title:
Bible teacher G. Campbell Morgan told of a coal miner who came to him and said, "I would give anything to believe that God would forgive my sins, but I cannot believe that He will forgive them if I just ask Him. It is too cheap." Morgan said, "My dear friend, have you been working today?" "Yes, I was down in the mine." "How did you get out of the pit? Did you pay?" "Of course not. I just got into the cage and was pulled to the top." "Were you not afraid to entrust yourself to that cage? Was it not too cheap?" Morgan asked. "Oh no," said the miner, "it was cheap for me, but it cost the company a lot of money to sink the shaft." Suddenly the truth struck him: that grace is not cheap; that though salvation costs us nothing, it cost God the precious blood of His Son.
B According to the Confession our gracious God "set out to find" fallen man. Here we read of the God Who comes to seek and save us. God comes to man instead of man coming to God. Jesus states this so beautifully: "For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost (Lk 19:10)." What a beautiful picture we have here of God. Just as a shepherd seeks and saves any sheep that are lost so God seeks and saves in and through His Son a lost-in-sin mankind. Ours, congregation, is a seeking and saving God.
Do you remember the story of Zacchaeus? Here is a perfect example of our seeking and saving God at work. Jesus knew Zacchaeus was in the tree. He knew his name. He deliberately went right to that tree, stopped under it, and said, "Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today" (Luke 19:5b). Notice that word "must." It shows us that Jesus has to work out God's plan of salvation for Zacchaeus. He was sent to earth for one purpose – to seek and save lost sinners like Zacchaeus. Jesus' work is urgent. His mission must be accomplished. "For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost" (Lk 19:10).
C God's gracious attitude towards fallen man is revealed in the Garden of Eden already. Immediately after man's fall into sin God reveals Himself as a most gracious and loving God. We can read about this in Genesis 3:15 – what the church calls the "mother promise" of the Gospel. Every other promise given by God is foreshadowed by this promise. All the rest of Scripture is merely explanation of this text:
(Gen 3:15) And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel."
God promises here to send His Son "born of a woman." He will be bruised by Satan – this happens when He is crucified. But three days later He will arise from the grave – which spells the defeat of death, sin, evil, and Satan.
How blessed is man's condition because of this. If he repents of his sin and believes in Christ then God, out of grace, forgives him and grants him life everlasting. This is certainly evident in the life of Zacchaeus. He, a sinner, was forgiven and restored. His was a joy that knew no limits. His was a life filled with good and loving deeds (Lk 19).
But notice, this happens only because our God is a seeking and saving God. He came seeking Adam and Eve when they first fell into sin. He came seeking Zacchaeus. He comes seeking you and me too.
D Precisely here we see the holy calling of the church. It is the job, the calling, the task of the church to let the whole world know that ours is a seeking and saving God. You see, it is through the church that God calls all men to come unto Him in and through Christ. Through the church He graciously calls all men to repent of their sins and to believe in Jesus. I came across this statement this past week which, I think, sums it up well: "The church is the only cooperative society in the world that exists for the benefit of nonmembers."
One Mercedes Benz TV commercial shows their car colliding with a cement wall during a safety test. Someone then asks the company spokesman why they do not enforce their patent on the Mercedes Benz's energy-absorbing car body, a design evidently copied by other companies because of its success.
He replies matter-of-factly, "Because some things in life are too important not to share."
How true. In that category has to come the good news of the Gospel, the good news that ours is a seeking and saving God in Christ. This is good news that the church may not and cannot keep to herself.
III Election and Our Saving and Seeking God
A Some wonder if the Confession contains a contradiction between Articles 16 and 17. Article 16 tells us that only those are saved whom God, out of His eternal and unchangeable counsel, elects in Christ. Article 17 tells us that ours is a seeking and saving God Who wants the Gospel proclaimed to all so all will repent and believe. Doesn't election contradict the call of the Gospel? How can God call all men to repent and believe when not all men are chosen to repent and believe?
B What we need to realize, my brothers and sisters, is that God's decree of election is realized, that it becomes real and effective, through the call of the Gospel. The elect, in other words, are those who respond in repentance and faith to the call of the Gospel. Make sure you hear me correctly here: they aren't elect because they respond in repentance and faith to the call of the Gospel; rather, because they are elect they respond in repentance and faith to the call of the Gospel. What this means is that God works out His election plan through the preaching and proclamation of His Word. Election becomes realized in evangelism.
Conclusion
Ours is a seeking and saving God. Ours is a God Who wants all to repent and believe. The Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.